The Last Kings of Shanghai

April 15, 2020
Historical account of two significant Jewish families who built wildly prosperous financial empires in Shanghai and Hong Kong that lasted for nearly two centuries. From opium trading to banking to real estate, the Sassoon and Kadoorie families "helped open the world to China--and opened China to the world." As Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Kaufman notes, they were "taipans," alternately revered, feared, and loathed by the Chinese, who have largely "obscured" their stories since 1949. The author--who covered the Tiananmen Square massacre and also served as the China bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal from 2002 to 2005--digs deep to unearth their personal histories, creating an absorbing multigenerational saga. He begins with patriarch David Sassoon, who was descended from centuries of Baghdad Jewish royalty and was hounded out by the Ottoman rulers in 1830; he landed in Bombay at the height of the British Empire. Fully anglicized and prospering in the trade of cotton and opium, he sent his sons to function as ambassadors to various world outposts. Elias, one of his sons, outmaneuvered British rivals and cornered the market on opium distribution. Later, David's grandson Victor Sassoon rose from "dilettante figurehead" to impresario, building the famous Cathay Hotel, which transformed the Shanghai skyline. He also helped forge the so-called "China Lobby," which financially backed the nationalist regime under Chiang Kai-shek. Meanwhile, Elly Kadoorie, apprenticed in the Sassoon schools for businessmen in Bombay, enriched himself and his wife, Laura, and sons in finance, especially via investment in rubber. He also built opulent hotels and other luxury projects in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Both families' fortunes were decimated with the Communist takeover, and while their wealth overshadowed the enormous poverty of the Chinese, Kaufman argues persuasively that their entrepreneurial drive built a lasting capitalist legacy in the country. While acknowledging the official Chinese version of history, the author does a service by examining "other truths" as well. An engaging addition to Chinese history that offers many insights for general readers.

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May 11, 2020
Journalist Kaufman (A Hole in the Heart of the World) documents the “profound” impact of two Baghdadi Jewish families on modern China’s economic development in this eloquent and well-sourced history. Participants in the 19th-century opium trade, the Sassoons (known as the “Rothschilds of Asia”) and the Kadoories built their fortunes “on low wages and unfair competition,” according to Kaufman. Yet patriarchs Victor Sassoon and Elly Kadoorie played key roles in wrenching China “from a sclerotic feudal society into a modern industrial one” in the first half of the 20th century by developing luxury hotels, banks, utilities, and other major economic projects in Shanghai, before losing “almost everything” in the 1949 communist revolution. Victor Sassoon provided food and vocational training for his Chinese employees, for example, while Elly’s son, Horace, advocated on behalf of refugee farmers after fleeing to Hong Kong during the communist takeover. Rivals more often than allies, the two families nevertheless joined forces during WWII to protect 18,000 European Jews fleeing Nazi Germany. Kaufman writes with style and strikes a careful balance between holding the families accountable for their “colonial assumptions” and celebrating their accomplishments. This richly detailed account illuminates an underexamined overlap between modern Jewish and Chinese history. Agent: Michael Carlisle, InkWell Management.

May 15, 2020
Kaufman examines the roles two families played in shaping twentieth-century Shanghai. The Sassoon and Kadoorie families, both from the Jewish community in Baghdad, were business rivals who built some of the city's most luxurious hotels, had myriad business interests, and held significant behind-the-scenes power. Kaufman discusses their experiences during WWII, when they provided substantial support to more than 18,000 Jewish refugees in Shanghai. After the war and the Communist revolution, the Kadoories also helped countless Chinese refugees in Hong Kong. Within this historical context, Kaufman focuses on family history and portrays some of the more interesting women, such as Rachel Sassoon Beer, owner and editor of two major British newspapers. He does not shy away from less savory endeavors; for example, the Sassoons sold opium. Especially compelling is Kaufman's at assimilation and how, despite their wealth and power, both families struggled to overcome the anti-Semitism of the British elite to gain true acceptance. A fascinating look at two powerful dynasties as well as a sharp lens through which to view Shanghai's ups and downs.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

Starred review from June 1, 2020

Kaufman (journalism, Northwesten Univ.; A Hole in the Heart of the World) unearths a hidden history with ties to the current global market in this account of the investments of two Jewish families who form an unexpected foundation for modern-day China. Both the Kadoorie and Sassoon families fled persecution in Iraq, escaping to China. Elias Sassoon arrived in Shanghai in 1850, trading opium. Elly Kadoorie settled in Hong Kong in 1880, as a Sassoon employee but went independent investing in electric power. On the eve of World War II, the families collaborated to procure visas for refugees sheltering over 18,000 Jews in Shanghai. The 1949 founding of the Republic of China saw the assets of both families seized. By the 1960s, a new generation of Kadoories returned to Hong Kong and from their investments became billionaires. The financial and cultural legacy of these families for today's China is significant. Kaufman succeeds in both presenting a topic with no previous in-depth coverage and analyzing the choices of another era and how they echo the ethical dilemmas of today. Included are a cast of characters, maps, and photographs. VERDICT This bold blend of personal and political history will reward enthusiastic readers for their time.--Jessica Bushore, Xenia, OH

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2020

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Kaufman visits 1930s Shanghai, where the Sassoons and the Kadoories--two Jewish families from Baghdad--had long dominated business, politics, and society. They kept up their intrigues and opium smuggling while helping to rescue 18,000 Jews from Hitler's Europe, and though they soon faced the tsunami that was communism, their legacy remains today.

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.